Darkness Bleeds Into My Mind
by only-some-loser
Summary: A mission gone wrong leading them to running for their lives through harsh wilderness with no backup coming is just another day in the life for Mac and Jack, but things get much more difficult as the aftereffects of a mysterious serum cause Mac to start losing his senses, one by one.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I've been looking forward to writing this for quite a while, and I hope you guys love it. This first chapter is a little short, but the rest should all be longer. The title comes from the song Jonathan by Ice Nine Kills. I hope you enjoy, and please leave a review!**

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It all started just like any other Wednesday afternoon. Mac and Jack were running for their lives through some illegal chemical weapons dealer's facility, Jack was cracking jokes the whole way, and Mac was just trying to figure out how they were going to get out of this unscathed. They'd been cut off from comms with Matty and Riley back home, which wasn't completely unheard of, but it did make things more difficult.

"I'm eventually gonna run out of bullets, bud, and we need to have a plan by then, so could you, you know-"

"Hurry it up?" Mac finished for him. "I'm still trying to figure something out that won't kill us too." He peeked up above the crates the were hiding behind to get another look at what he had to work with, and what they were facing. Luckily, the building they were using had a front as a whiskey distribution center, so they had plenty of actual whiskey crates lying around. The open warehouse room they were hiding in happened to be where all the actual whiskey was kept. Mac smiled as he realized that he was practically being forced to make some Molotov cocktails. Oh darn.

He reached into the open crate and pulled out two bottles of whiskey, quickly opening them and dumping some of it out. Mac tore off part of his shirt - he never liked that shirt too much anyway - and shoved it halfway into the bottle, doing the same with the other bottle.

"You almost out of bullets yet?" Mac asked. "'Cause I'm gonna need your gun to light these up, and you won't really be able to use it when I'm done."

"Almost," Jack replied, popping over the crates just enough to fire at their pursuers again. Jack's aim was true, and that was the only reason they had been able to hold them off for as long as they had, but it couldn't last forever. "I'm out," he said. Jack tossed the gun to Mac, who quickly dismantled it with nothing but his Swiss Army Knife, and used the firing mechanism to light up the Molotovs.

He handed one to Jack, saying, "here's the plan. We're gonna throw these onto those crates of whiskey, and then we're gonna run."

"Short and sweet, I like it," Jack replied. He took the Molotov from Mac and got into position to stand and throw, just waiting for Mac's say so. On the count of three, they moved to throw the Molotovs in perfect unison, launching them over to the other crates of whiskey the bad guys were using as cover. Mac would've loved to stay and watch the ensuing flames eventually cause the explosion, but they didn't have time for that. Jack was on it, immediately grabbing Mac's arm the moment the Molotov was out of it, and pulling him with him as they two ran out of the warehouse and into the hallway.

Only a few seconds later, the plan came crashing down, literally. They heard and felt the massive explosion caused by all of that alcohol combusting rock the very foundations of the base. It was very old, and hadn't been structurally sound in decades. Mac had just hoped that they would make it out before any serious damage occurred. He knew the worst of it would be confined to the warehouse they were in and the surrounding hallways, so the rest of the compound should be fine, but they needed to book it if they wanted to get out of the hallway before it caved in on them. But, as always, their luck had run out, and the ceiling started to collapse. Mac quickly pushed Jack forward and out of the way, then moved back to protect himself. He didn't have time to get clear in front of it before it came crashing down. Mac had his hands up to protect his head and neck, and had curled in on himself to give himself as much protection as he could, and it seemed to work. The dust was settling, and he was okay. But was Jack?

"Jack!" he called out. The hallway was completely blocked off. "Jack!" he called again.

"I'm okay!" came the response. Mac could've cried in relief.

"I'll have to find another way out!" he shouted to his partner. "I'll meet you at exfil, okay?"

"No, I'm not leaving you!" Jack shouted back.

"You don't have a choice! I'll meet you at exfil!" he repeated as he started jogging away. He didn't like this any more than Jack did, but they just didn't have a choice. If he tried to force his way through, he could compromise the integrity of the building even more, and kill them both. Even if that wasn't a concern, it would just take too much time to force through. No, he needed to find another way around. Hopefully Jack would do the smart thing and get to exfil. That's all he could do.

Mac spent the next several minutes narrowly avoiding the security personnel running rampant throughout the facility, on the lookout for him and Jack. He needed to get out, and fast.

"There he is!" came a shout from down the hall. Mac took a quick glance behind him and saw the five guards, then started booking it down the hallway. There was nothing around him that he could use to his defense aside from his own knife, and although he was a good fighter, he wasn't sure if he could take on five men with guns who were built like mountains all by himself. Running and hoping he would be able to get away was a wiser move on his part. Except for the fact that there were another five guards standing right in front of him when he rounded the corner. Mac barely avoided literally running into them, but now, there was nowhere to go, and nothing he could do.

"Put your hands in the air, slowly!" one of the guards shouted at him. Mac didn't have any other option but to comply. Assuming they didn't kill him, everything would be okay. Jack would eventually realize that he was taking too long to make exfil, and he would come for him.

"Ask the boss if this one will work," another guard said. Mac had no idea what he was talking about, and he wasn't about to ask.

One of the men started to search him, and took his knife from his pocket. "He's young, and healthy and strong," the man said. "He should be the perfect test subject." That sounded very concerning. Still, Mac knew it was pointless to resist while there were literally ten guards surrounding him. He wouldn't get very far. The man ziptied Mac's hand's behind him and started marching him down the hallways, and into some laboratory.

"Oh, you weren't exaggerating," a man in a lab coat said. "He is perfect, thank you for not killing him. I'll get the serum, and then we can get this show on the road," he said with a clap of his hands. Several other people milling around the lab stopped what they were doing and picked up clipboards, coming closer to Mac and watching him.

Mac didn't know what to do. He was still being held by two guards, and there were still several others surrounding him. He was in a lab, which was always a good thing for him, but he wouldn't have time to make use of any of it after getting away. He really didn't want to get shot, and if he got away from the guards, that's probably what would happen. Mac had been shot too many times to count from the time he was eighteen years old in Afghanistan to now, and he really wanted to wait a little while longer before having to repeat the painful experience yet again. Still, he couldn't let himself be injected by some mystery drug, which was what it looked like was about to happen.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting to test this one. You see, we're still working out all the kinks, and we know this one won't be the final one, but hopefully the process will be more sped up than the last test," the man explained with a creepy smile, inching closer to Mac with a syringe in his hand.

No, Mac would not just stand there and let his happen. He started to struggle more against the men holding him, but each of them were a lot bigger than him - which was all too common, being only 5'10" on a good day when the average height of a man kept going up and up. A swift hit to the gut had him nearly doubling over, being held up only by the grips on his arms. Another guard came up and gripped his hair, painfully pulling his head up and exposing his neck to the mad scientist in front of him. He tried to pull away, but to no avail. Mac could feel his breathing getting faster and faster, and damn he wished Jack were here. Then there was a strong grip on his neck by a meaty hand and sharp pain that he recognized all too well: a needle being inserted into his jugular vein. Mac closed his eyes against the pain, and stopped struggling. That would just make it hurt more. Then the needle was gone and the harsh grip on his hair was gone too, leaving only the men still gripping his arms. He was pretty sure he would have bruises from their crushing holds.

"Prep him for observation, then leave him with the others," the man said.

"Yes, Dr. Zeigler," the guard holding him responded. They quickly turned Mac around and pulled him out of the room and through more hallways than Mac could keep track off. Wait, why couldn't he keep track of it? Where was he again? Where was Jack? What was going on? Mac could feel his breathing speeding up, but there was blackness encroaching on the edge of his vision. He stopped walking, halting the guards in their steps. Mac tried to ask them what was going on, but before he could say anything, darkness was all he knew.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thank you for all of your wonderful words of encouragement! I got an amazing response to the first chapter, and I hope you guys love this one just as much. I hope you enjoy, and please leave a review!**

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When Mac awoke, it was to a dull throbbing in his nose.

His nose? What?

Mac brought his hand up to see if it was broken, and it didn't appear to be. It wasn't swollen, or bruised, or anything like that, but it had a deep throb, a throb strong enough to pull him from unconsciousness. Was it because of what that man had injected him with? He could remember what happened, and knew that Jack would probably be there soon to get him out of this, just like he always did, so Mac wasn't too concerned.

He finally opened his eyes and had a look at his surroundings. He was in a large cell, with bars that looked just too close together for him to slip through. Outside the cell was what looked like a minimal laboratory. If only Mac could get his hands on the chemicals that were likely in those cabinets, he could get out. But why was he in a cell in a lab? Did they plan to study the effects of the serum while he was in that cell? What even was that serum?

Mac's eyes widened when he noticed what else was in the cell with him. Bodies. Lots of bodies. And even with his throbbing nose, Mac could still tell that they stank to high heaven.

There were five bodies in that cell with him, all in various stages of decay. Most of them were too far gone to tell whether they were men or women, but the freshest one was a woman who had probably been a few years older than Mac. Other than that, Mac couldn't tell, and he wasn't about to get close enough to look. That would be the last resort. All of the bodies were wearing the same thin gray shirt and shorts, and nothing else. Mac glanced down at himself, and saw that he was wearing the same thing. He felt the material. It seemed to be standard clinic issue. Peering over at the bodies, he couldn't see any obvious signs of what killed those people.

Slowly, Mac stood up and walked to the front of the cell. He tested the strength of the bars, and sighed when they were just as strong as he suspected they would be. Running his hands along some of the bars, Mac checked for any weaknesses he could exploit, and wasn't surprised to find none. Much to his displeasure, it seemed like it was probably time to take a closer look at the bodies, as much as he didn't want to. With a sigh and a shake of his head, Mac took a few hesitant steps closer to the decomposing corpses, only to stop a few feet away when a stab of pain in his nose nearly took him to his knees.

The throbbing increased tenfold, and Mac had to reach out for the wall to steady himself. He tried to tell himself just to breathe through it, like Jack would say, but all he could think of was how much it hurt and how much he wanted Jack to be there, because Jack always made it better. Mac bit his lip to keep himself from screaming and let himself fall to his knees. It hurt so bad and he just wanted it to stop. Was he dying? Was this what killed those people? In the back of his mind, Mac knew you couldn't actually die from pain, but in the moment, it certainly seemed like that was what was going to happen.

Mac had had his nose broken several times in combat and on missions over the years, but it had never felt like this, he had never experienced pain like this, not even on the countless times he'd been tortured. Nothing had ever felt like this. Mac felt that maybe he was screaming, but he didn't know for sure. He didn't know anything but the pain.

Then, as suddenly as it had started, it was gone. The pain was completely gone. Not even a dull ache remained. Mac felt completely fine. He reached up to feel his nose again, and it felt the same as it had before, with no noticeable swelling or anything like that. Mac quickly wiped away remnants of his tears from the pain, then straightened back up to check the corpses for anything useful like he had planned.

He crouched down next to the fresh one, but was hesitant to touch it. He knew he needed to, but it felt disrespectful to touch this dead woman who had likely been through enough already without someone moving around her corpse.

That's when he noticed. The stench of the bodies was gone. Mac couldn't smell a single thing.

* * *

Jack looked at his watch, then glanced back at the compound. He sighed. Mac was taking too long. There was no way that Jack was going to go all the way to exfil without his partner, so he'd found a good spot to hide while he waited for Mac to get out. Because of the direction Mac would need to head in order to get to exfil, it would impossible for Jack to miss him. He hadn't seen him yet, which could only mean that Mac was still in the compound.

With another sigh, Jack readied himself to sneak back in. He hadn't been able to get comms back up with Riley, so he would be going in blind. But it wasn't as if he would ever just leave Mac in there, so going in blind would have to work. At this point, Mac had likely been captured, which meant he was probably being kept somewhere relatively secure. That eliminated some areas of the facility. Jack was a fully trained covert operative, and he had the utmost confidence in himself that he could find Mac, break him out, and get them both to exfil. Getting to exfil on time might be a challenge - okay, more like impossible at this point, it couldn't be done - but at least they could get to the spot, then hopefully Mac could make a radio out of pine needles and sap and get them help.

Slowly, Jack crept back down to the compound from his hiding place in the forest, and forced his way inside. Mac would've picked the lock, but Jack didn't mind just breaking off the lock altogether. Sticking close to the walls, Jack moved through the hallways and into the basement of the facility. If he were an illegal chemical weapons manufacturer, that's where he would keep his prisoners. Hopefully Mac would be in a good enough condition to get out with only minor assistance. Jack hated the thought of his kid being severely injured, especially when they had several miles of forest to hike through after their escape.

"You can't be here!" a voice shouted from behind Jack. He slowly turned around to see who he was dealing with. "This is a restricted area." The man walked closer to Jack, and looked like he was about to draw his gun. Good. Jack could use a new gun. Hopefully the man had a lot of ammunition too.

"Sorry man, could you help me out for a second?" Jack asked, doing his best to look as innocent and non-threatening as possible. Luckily, the man took the bait, and stepped closer, his hand still on his gun. The moment he was close enough, Jack grabbed the man's arm and spun him around, grabbing the man's gun the process. Once he had the gun, he stepped away from the man, and kept his aim at the man steady. The man raised his hands in surrender, his eyes wide.

"Now you listen to me," Jack growled. "Are you listening?" The man quickly nodded. "Alright, good. Now here's what you're gonna do. You're gonna lead me to where you keep your prisoners, and your gonna let the blond kid go. He's my partner, and I want him back. If you do anything I don't want you to, I won't hesitate to kill you, understood?" Once again, the man quickly nodded, eyes still wide. "Good, now start walking. Keep your hands up."

The man nodded again, then quickly turned around and started walking, keeping his hands up like Jack had asked him to. Jack memorized all the twists and turns they were taking, committing them to memory so that they wouldn't need this man to help them get out once Jack found Mac.

After a few minutes, the man stopped in front of a set of double doors, and hesitantly looked back at Jack.

"If this is where he is, then open the doors, or I'll be opening your skull," Jack threatened.

"Only the scientists are supposed to go in there," the man said. He appeared to be genuinely scared, but of Jack or the room, Jack wasn't sure.

"Does it look like I care?" Jack asked. He motioned with the gun towards the doors, and the man shakily pushed them open and walked inside. The man crossed himself once he crossed the threshold, then immediately turned to face the doors, refusing to look at the interior of what appeared to be a lab of some sort. On the counter right next to the door was a very familiar looking red knife. Jack quickly pocketed it. He really didn't want Mac to lose it again.

"Jack!" a voice cried out. It was Mac.

Jack briefly took his eyes off the man in front of him to look at his kid. He looked like he was okay, but he was in a cell with several dead bodies, and looked to be looking them over. That must have been why the man didn't want to go in.

"Hey, buddy!" Jack called back. "Your rescue's here. Now you," he said, turning back towards the man who had led him there. "You're gonna let him out, or die. It's your choice," Jack said, as if he truly didn't care which option the man picked.

Trembling, the man walked past the lab tables and towards the cell, keeping his gaze anywhere but on the bodies. He put in the code on the keypad, and the door of the cell came sliding open. Mac quickly stepped out, and Jack pistol whipped the man who had opened the door, then shoved the man's unconscious body into the cell, quickly closing it behind him.

"Are you okay?" he turned to ask Mac the moment the cell door was once again closed. "I noticed you've had a wardrobe change." Jack forced a smile to cover up how worried he'd actually been.

"Umm, yeah, I think I'm okay," Mac replied, looking genuinely unsure if he was okay or not.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked, his concern immediately skyrocketing. "What did those bastards do to you?"

"I don't know, let's just get out and maybe take me to a hospital, I don't know yet," Mac rushed out, stepping past Jack and towards the doors.

"Now wait just a minute, kid," Jack said, quickly grabbing a light hold of Mac's arm to stop him. "What are you talking about?" Mac hated hospitals. He would never suggest that he go to one unless something was life-threateningly wrong, and sometimes not even then. But he looked physically fine.

"I promise I'll tell you everything, but we really should get out of here first. I think time is of the essence." Mac pulled out of Jack's grip and slowly pushed the doors open, checking for guards. Jack followed him, then quickly took the lead, next to Mac, but just slightly ahead of him. If anyone asked, that was because he had memorized the way back, but really, it was because if he was in front of his kid, he could more easily protect him.

"It stinks in there anyway," Jack muttered.

"That's the problem," he just barely heard Mac mumble. Jack nearly stopped in his tracks.

"What?" he asked. "You've got to explain what's goin' on, kid." He put his arm out to stop Mac just before they rounded a corner. Jack peered around it to make sure it was safe, then motioned for them to keep going.

"I couldn't smell them, Jack, I couldn't smell anything," Mac replied, keeping step with Jack.

"You're lucky. It smelled worse than me after eating Bozer's bean curry." He wasn't exactly seeing the problem. Mac was lucky if he couldn't smell something that terrible, but Jack didn't remember the kid having a cold or something, and he didn't sound sick.

"No, Jack, I can't smell anything, anything at all. I can't smell," Mac said, lightly grabbing onto Jack's sleeve as they walked down the hallway. That's when Jack knew something really was wrong. The kid sounded seriously scared, and he'd reached for Jack for comfort. Something really was wrong.

Just as Jack was about to respond, an alarm started blaring. "Time to start running," Mac muttered, gripping Jack's sleeve more as the two started to run down the hallway, but let go after a moment.

They could hear voices shouting, and they weren't shouting like Jack did whenever the Cowboys scored a touchdown. Jack was sure to keep his gun at the ready, and fired off a shot when they entered the stairwell and were greeted by guards. He and Mac made quick work of the rest - Jack mentally reminded himself to mention that he was proud of how much Mac's close combat fighting skills had improved over the years - then dashed up the stairs, and out the emergency exit.

"This way to exfil," he said, taking a quick breath before beginning to run towards the trees, Mac right next to him. Maybe they should've taken the time to steal a pair of shoes for Mac's bare feet, but it was a little late now.

Jack could still hear shouting, but he and Mac had reached the treeline. Glancing back at the kid, he could see him grimacing whenever he stepped on something painful.

"Alright, kid, let's find a place to hide," he said, quickly stopping Mac.

"We can't stop or we'll miss exfil," Mac said breathlessly. He tried to start running again, but was stopped by Jack grabbing onto his arm.

"Exfil's already long gone, bud," Jack admitted. "Right now our goal is just to hide where they can't find you, and your feet aren't really gonna let you run very far in this forest before you slice them open. You know it's smarter to hide and make yourself a pair of shoes out of something."

Mac sighed, but nodded. They ran up to a large tree with low hanging branches, and Jack began to climb. This was really gonna suck for Mac, not just because of his bare feet on the bark, but his fear of heights would be a problem too. Still, Jack would rather have a scared Mac at the top of a tall tree than a dead or captured Mac at the bottom.

"Come on, bud," Jack said, a few branches above Mac. "I know it sucks but you can do this."

"Yeah," Mac said, a little breathlessly. "Yeah, yeah, I'm okay." He sounded anything but okay. "My feet feel fine." His voice was full of pain. "And this isn't even that high up." They were a good thirty feet off the ground at that point.

"Okay," Jack said, putting a hand out to stop Mac. "This should be good. I doubt they'll look up at all, and if they do, they shouldn't see us."

Mac kept climbing, just high enough to that he was on the same branch as Jack. He wrapped one arm tightly around the trunk, and gripped Jack's arm with the other. Less than a minute later, guards were swarming the forest floor below them. As Jack had suspected, they didn't look up.

"Find them!" came a shout from below. "They can't have gotten far. You can kill the man if you wish, but I need the boy alive!"

Jack glanced over at Mac. The kid had his eyes squeezed shut, and he was shaking. He looked scared, and it also looked like he was in pain, but the kid had such a high pain tolerance that Jack knew his feet couldn't be what was causing it, cut up by the tree or not. He wanted to ask Mac what was wrong, but he didn't want any chances of being heard by the people below them, who were taking their sweet time. They had to be completely sure that they weren't anywhere around before making their way back down the tree anyway.

Jack reached up onto his arm and covered Mac's hand with his own, just to remind the kid that he was there, that he wasn't alone, and settled into the long wait.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Sorry for such a long wait. I went home for Thanksgiving break and I didn't realize that I wouldn't have time to write the entire time, but things should get back to normal now. I hope you enjoy, and please leave a review :)**

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Being helpless was probably the worst feeling in the world. Jack could clearly see that Mac was in a world of pain, and there was nothing he could do to help him. The kid was shaking so hard that Jack had to hold him to make sure he didn't fall out of the tree. He was whimpering a little bit, and even softly moaning at times because of the pain. The whole time, he kept his eyes squeezed shut.

Once all the men chasing them were finally out of view, Jack softly said, "you gotta tell me what's goin' on, bud. What's wrong?"

"My head, behind my eyes," Mac replied, his voice breaking. Jack could see a tear falling out from behind closed lids. "It hurts so bad, Jack," he whimpered.

"It's gonna be okay," Jack lied. He didn't know what was happening at all. The only thing he knew was that his kid was in agony and there was nothing he could do to help him. Jack carefully maneuvered Mac into his arms and held him as he shook with pain. Mac cries grew a bit louder, which was so unlike him that Jack froze for a second. "Shhhh, I've got you, but we gotta stay quiet," he pled with Mac. They needed to be sure that they were in the clear before making any noise that might draw the men towards them.

"I'm gonna go blind," Mac said, crying out again in pain. "No, please, please, no, no," he said. Jack didn't know if Mac was talking to him, or God, or whoever, but it broke his heart nonetheless. Mac's cries grew even louder, and Jack started panicking. What was he supposed to do? He couldn't do anything to make whatever was going on with Mac to stop, but they couldn't alert the weapons dealers to where they were.

"I know it hurts, buddy, but we have to be quiet," he said, trying to let his voice be a calming force for the kid. That usually worked, but it didn't now. Mac groaned again, and Jack, with tears in his own eyes, quickly covered Mac's mouth with his hand to muffle his cries as the kid began to scream. He held Mac tightly next to him as he began to thrash in pain. He let the tears fall when his kid screamed into his hand in pain. Jack felt Mac's tears on his hand and on his shirt, and just held on as tightly as he could, praying he could keep them both in the tree without alerting anyone to their presence.

After the longest minute of Jack's life, Mac very suddenly stopped screaming and thrashing. Jack would've thought that he had passed out - and he almost wished that he had, since at least that would give him a reprieve from the pain - if it hadn't been for the fact that he was still crying. Mac slowly untangled himself from Jack and sat up on his own, his hands clutching the tree to keep himself steady. His eyes were still squeezed tight, and his breath was coming in short gasps. Mac was visibly trying to calm himself by trying to take deep breaths, and eventually succeeded, but he was still shaking. He finally opened his eyes, then quickly put his hand up to his mouth to muffle the sound that came out, the sound that was nearly a wail.

"Mac, what's going on?" Jack asked. He was so confused. It didn't seem like Mac was in pain anymore, but he was crying just as hard as he had been earlier, and was shaking just the same.

"Jack, I can't- I can't see," he stuttered. "I'm blind, I can't see, I can't see I can't see I can't see!"

"You gotta calm down, bud, we can't let them find you," Jack said, even though he was panicking just as much as Mac. He pulled the kid against him in an attempt to help him calm down. Mac flinched at first, but then melted into Jack. He clutched him like a lifeline, holding on so hard that it hurt a bit, but Jack wasn't about to push him away. Mac sobbed into Jack's shoulder, his cries muffled. Jack didn't bother to wipe away his own tears, since after all, Mac couldn't see them.

What were they going to do? They were thirty feet up in a tree, hiding from dangerous chemical weapons dealers, with no exfil, no comms with Phoenix, and Mac was blind. The kid couldn't smell either but that one didn't matter quite as much. It was getting Cairo bad. What was Jack supposed to do?

Once Mac had quieted, Jack finally asked, "what did they do to you?" They must have done something when they'd caught the kid. There was no other possible explanation as to why Mac was losing his senses.

"They injected me with some drug, then I woke up in that room. I think they wanted to watch the progression of the drug, since it's still in development," Mac replied, his voice completely monotone, and barely more than a whisper. He was still laying against Jack, and made no move to get up. The kid sounded completely exhausted, and he had every right to be. Mac kept taking deep breaths, as if he were trying to keep more tears at bay. He had to be so scared.

"I'm gonna get you home, and you're gonna be okay. I swear on my life that I am going to find an antidote or die trying, okay?" Jack said, wrapping his arms around the kid just a little bit more tightly. He would not let this destroy the boy.

"You can't promise that," Mac replied, his voice breaking. "Everyone else in that room was dead, and once I lose everything else I'll be dead too." He pressed his head further into Jack's shoulder, and held on to the man with all he had.

"You know me, Mac. You go kaboom, I go kaboom, remember? No matter what happens, I am never leaving you," Jack said. He could feel Mac about to protest, so he just held onto him tighter.

He couldn't think about the possibility of this being nonreversable, or even worse, the drug killing Mac before they were able to get help. He just couldn't think about it, because if he did, he would freak out, and he couldn't do that right now. Mac needed him to be strong, he needed him to be steady, and he would be neither if he were freaking out about all the maybes. But, now that they were officially on a time table, they had to stop hiding and be proactive. Mac didn't have the luxury of time to wait out the men chasing them. If they could just get to where exfil would have been, they would probably have enough signal to call for help. That meant it was time to get down from the tree. This was going to be interesting.

* * *

Mac didn't know if he had ever felt so helpless in his life, and that was saying something, because he often got in such precarious situations that there didn't seem to be a way out, but this was different. He couldn't freaking see, and he didn't know if he ever would again. And now that he knew what the drug was doing to him, he knew it was only a matter of time until he lost his hearing. Would he lose taste and touch too? Mac didn't want to think about it, but he couldn't stop himself. He couldn't see the tactical advantage of making the enemy lose their sense of taste, so hopefully that wouldn't happen, and assuming they didn't plan on just outright killing everyone they ever dosed with this drug, losing the sense of touch would just make prisoners too difficult to handle, so hopefully that would also be off the table.

From a tactical standpoint, Mac could see the use of a drug that took away the senses of smell, sight, and hearing. In some kind of warfare situation, however unethical it would be, a drug that very quickly took away those senses would make it impossible for any enemies to fight back. Despite it all, Mac almost laughed. Clearly they still had a long way to go until the drug would be ready for use. He didn't know if dying was supposed to happen, but he couldn't help but hope it wasn't, not just because he didn't like death, but because maybe if it wasn't supposed to happen, then the version he had been injected with would be advanced enough that he wouldn't die. Mac knew he put up a good front most of the time, at least when he was around people that weren't Jack, but he was scared. He didn't want to die.

"Hey bud," Jack said, breaking his dark thoughts. "I think we should get a move on now."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Mac muttered in reply, but he still made no move to sit up. All he wanted to do was sleep, because maybe when he woke up, this will all have been a terrible nightmare, and he wouldn't really be blind and slowly dying. But when Jack finally removed his arms from around him, Mac couldn't stop himself from gasping and clutching Jack even harder. He was up way too high in a tree and he couldn't see and Jack was keeping him steady and if he didn't have Jack right there then he didn't know where he was and-

"Hey, hey, hey, it's okay," Jack said in that voice he used on skittish horses back in Texas. Damn, Mac wished he were there instead of here. But, just like it worked on the horses, it worked on him too. Jack had the uncanny ability to always help him calm down and put him at ease. "I'm gonna help you every step of the way here. Our first order of business is getting down this tree. Now the only way we're gonna be able to do that is if you climb onto my back, then I bring both of us down."

"Jack, no-"

"You have a better idea, genius?" Jack teased. "If you can't see, you're not gonna be able to climb down yourself. As long as you stay perfectly still, then I am plenty strong enough to get us both down."

As much as Mac hated the idea, he knew that Jack was right. He couldn't think of any way to get down by himself, and for the short amount of time he would be on Jack's back, he knew the man was strong enough to do it. You didn't become an Army Delta without being seriously ripped, and Jack took his workout regimen very seriously.

"Okay," Mac finally replied. He started to move his hands around Jack's shoulders, but he didn't really know what he was doing. How was he supposed to get onto Jack's back while he was stuck up a tree if he couldn't see anything?

"Bud, stop," Jack said with a chuckle. Mac stopped immediately, and could feel his face heating up. "You relax, and let me help you." Mac wasn't exactly in a position to refuse his help, and they both knew it. But, soon enough, after some awkward maneuvering - Mac was actually kind of glad that he couldn't see, because that would have made it even more awkward - he had both his arms and legs wrapped as tightly around Jack as he could manage. He could feel Jack awkwardly getting them down the tree, and once again Mac was glad he couldn't see, because that meant he couldn't see how high up they were.

It took a lot longer than it had taken to get up, but finally, they were at the bottom, and Jack was telling Mac to hop off. Mac did so, but he didn't take his hand off Jack's shoulder. He was afraid that if he did, then he would lose him.

"Thanks, Jack," he muttered. If it hadn't been for Jack, he never would've been able to get down. He could feel Jack's shoulders moving up and down with heavy breaths under his hand. The man would need to rest a minute.

"It's no problem, kid," Jack replied, surprising Mac by putting his hand on top of Mac's. He only showed his surprise with a small flinch, and quickly recovered. Jack took a hold of Mac's hand and moved it to his upper arm. "You grip this sleeve with all you've got, okay?" Mac nodded. "I'll tell you everything in our path. I will not let you fall. I'm gonna get you home, okay, bud?" He nodded again. "Alright," Jack continued with a sigh. "Let's get going."


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: I hope this makes everyone's weeks better after the devastating news the fandom received :\ I don't really feel like talking about it anymore, but all my thoughts are on my tumblr, bands-space-and-monsters-oh-my. I hope you enjoy, and please leave a review :)**

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He would never say so to Mac, but Jack was terrified. He saw those dead bodies in the cell with his partner, and he knew they had been dosed with basically the same thing that Mac had, and they were dead. He would not let his partner join them. But what could he do to stop it? Mac was losing his senses faster than the Cowboys lost games in 1960, and he was powerless to stop it. Jack didn't know if the effects of the drug would progress at a steady rate or not, but Mac was already blind. What was he supposed to do when the kid went deaf? And what was he supposed to do if it was irreversible? The kid was incredible, but he wasn't Helen Keller.

"The ground is about to slope down a bit, okay?" he said. Jack wasn't surprised when Mac gripped his arm a little tighter in response. The kid had been uncharacteristically quiet - they both had, really - and Jack could guess what he was thinking about. If Jack was freaked out about the whole situation, then he could only imagine how absolutely terrified Mac must have been. The kid was also so observant to the world around him, and with his sight robbed from him, he must feel pretty helpless. Jack would be the first one to say that Mac was never helpless, never, but that didn't mean that Mac didn't think that. "How you holdin' up, kiddo?" he asked, although he wasn't expecting a truthful answer on the first try.

"I'm okay," Mac muttered in response. Jack glanced back at him, his sightless eyes were downcast, and his head hung long. The kid must have sensed Jack looking at him, because he quickly reached up to wipe away the remnants of tears. He was so damn scared.

Jack sighed. "I know you're not, but that's okay." He needed to find a good distraction while they slowly made their way to where exfil would have been. Jack was always good at distractions. "So tell me some weird facts about squirrels," he said. "There's a hell of a lot of squirrels here, and I've got nothin' better to do than listen to a lecture on squirrels." Just as Jack had planned, Mac let out a small chuckle and smiled. Mission accomplished.

"Well," Mac started with a deep breath. Jack could practically hear his smile as the gears started turning in his brain to come up with the most obscure facts he knew about the little animals. "They vary in size a lot, like, they can be anywhere from seven centimeters to a full meter long. It's crazy. The Indian Giant Squirrel is thirty-six inches of fluff, really. Squirrels are hoarders too-"

"Just like you!" Jack interrupted. He almost playfully punched Mac in the shoulder, but stopped himself just in time. Mac was finally smiling, his mind off their situation, and Jack didn't want to freak him out with physical contact that he couldn't see coming.

"Jack," Mac groaned in response. "I'm not a hoarder, I just keep things that might be useful one day, which really is everything, because the only limit to anything is the human imagination, and maybe physics, but there's often a way around that too. And anyway, I meant that they hoard nuts, and even organize them. They can even detect their food under a foot a snow."

Mac continued to spout off random facts about squirrels for a solid ten minutes. Jack provided a lot of useless commentary, knowing that it would make things feel a bit more normal, and not like they were being hunted in the forest by chemical weapons dealers who were hellbent on dragging Mac back to the facility to finish their drug tests on him.

Jack immediately stopped in his tracks when he heard something that sounded a bit like voices to his left. "Mac, stop, I heard something," he whispered. The kid ran into him, but Jack didn't mind. He could feel Mac's hand shaking as he gripped his arm. There could be a threat out there, and Mac couldn't even see it. Jack pulled Mac over to a tree that was cluttered with fallen branches, and made him sit down under some good cover. "You stay here, I promise that I will be right back."

"Jack, no, don't leave," Mac panicked, reaching out blindly with his other arm to grip Jack's pant leg. Jack crouched down and took a hold of Mac's hands in his own larger ones.

"I will not let them find you, okay? I'm gonna go take care of whatever bad guy is out there, and then I'm coming right back, I swear." Jack squeezed Mac's hands before placing them on the trunk of the tree he was sitting up against, just so he still had something there to ground him. "I'll be right back."

"But Jack-"

"I have to, kid. When have I ever not come back? When have I ever broken a promise to you?"

Mac was silent, and hung his head. "Don't make this the first time," he muttered, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the tree trunk.

"Never, kiddo." Jack slowly stood up, quickly messing up Mac's hair with his hand to get him to smile. The blond reached up to swat at Jack's hand, and Jack made sure he hit it. "I'll be right back."

Painstakingly, Jack stepped away and out from under the cover, telling himself over and over again not to look back, because if he did, he would stay with the kid and hold him tight and tell him it would be okay, and as much as he would love to do that, that strategy would not work. He needed to be proactive when he could, and right now was a time when he could and should.

Jack's Delta senses had already told him that it was a person he'd heard and not an animal. He'd already heard several deer, but he hadn't told Mac about them. As much as Jack made fun of Mac for having the legs of a newborn deer, the kid really did love the animals for their graceful countenance, and, if he were being honest, for their sweet faces. That was another resemblance that he wouldn't tell the kid about, unless he really wanted to embarrass him. He didn't tell him because he didn't want to make him upset that he couldn't see them.

Slowly, Jack crept closer to where he'd been when he heard it, and stood still and silent. There it was again, and it was more than one person. That was fine by Jack. He took cover, creeping closer and closer until he could see them. There were three men, all in the uniform of the weapons dealer. They carried AR-15s, and had bulletproof vests. That meant only headshots would take them out. Jack sighed. He didn't enjoy killing people, but he would do anything to protect his kid. Sometimes the lengths he would go to for that boy scared him, but three more bodies were nothing new.

Jack crouched down, obscured by foliage, and lined up his first target. The pistol he was using wasn't his favorite make or model, but it would get the job done, and it was fully loaded. He sighed again, shaking his head as his finger made its way to the trigger. Anything for Mac.

Less than a minute later, Jack was standing over the bodies of three dead men. After the first one went down, the second two freaked out and started looking around for the shooter, but they were too late. This was the part of the job that Jack hated, taking lives when they have the chance to even defend themselves, murderous criminals or not. After Afghanistan, and what he'd had to do, Jack could understand why a kid as haunted as Mac would refuse to use one ever again, despite the fact that he was an excellent shot.

But, there was still more these dead men could give him. They were all a lot bigger than Mac, but that was better than nothing. Night was coming, and Mac was only wearing the gray pants and shirt that he'd found him in the facility in. He would be damned if he let his kid freeze.

Jack quickly made his way back to where he left Mac - extra clothes and shoes in hand - and was relieved to see that the kid was still there, but it looked like he was almost hyperventilating.

"Jack, is that you?" Mac asked, his voice breaking. Jack hadn't been aware that he'd been making that much noise, but it made sense that without his sight, Mac would be paying closer attention to the things he heard.

"Yeah, kid, I'm right here," Jack replied, setting the clothes down and crouching in front of Mac. The kid held his hands out in front of him, searching for his partner, his breaths still coming far too quickly for Jack's liking. "It's okay, bud, it's alright," he said. He gently took Mac's hands in his, but the moment he made enough contact for Mac to know where he was, the kid launched himself at Jack, expertly wrapping his arms around the man and burying his face in his shoulder. It was a move he had done countless times before when he was scared out of his mind and Jack was the only thing keeping him sane.

"I- I heard the shots, and shouting, and I thought that- that maybe you-"

"Hey, hey, it's alright, kiddo, I'm okay. I don't have a scratch on me. I promised I would come back to you and I did." Jack reached up and gently ran his fingers through Mac's hair. Maybe Mac was being uncharacteristically clingy, but the kid had every right too. He'd been captured by the enemy and experimented on, really, and now he was losing his senses one by one. He had every right to be clingy. "I've got you," he whispered. "It's okay."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Mac said, quickly pulling away and leaning back up against the tree. "I didn't mean to freak out, I'm sorry, we should get going." Mac made to stand, but Jack stopped him with a hand on the kid's knee.

"Wait a second, I've got somethin' for ya," Jack said. Mac just looked at him, confused. "You need some warmer clothes, so I swiped some from the bad guys. They'll be big, but it's better than what you've got. Here's the jacket." He handed Mac the jacket in the way that would be easiest for the kid to put in on himself. He probably didn't want any help. Once he successfully put on the jacket, Jack handed him the pants. They were large enough to fit comfortably over the pants he was already wearing and still be too big. Jack helped him to shove the ends into the massive boots to make them just a little bit more comfortable. He didn't say anything about it, but the kid's feet were cut up from the forest floor, making Jack cringe. That had to hurt.

"Thanks, Jack," Mac muttered. Knowing the kid couldn't see it, Jack rolled his eyes. What did he have to do to get the kid to see that he wasn't a burden? Maybe he hadn't said anything directly, but Jack knew that exact tone of voice. Mac was thinking about how much of a burden he was to him, and Jack wouldn't stand for it. But, he also knew that now wasn't the time. They had to get moving.

"Alright, kid. Let's get goin'." Jack gripped Mac's hand in his and helped him to stand, then gave him a moment to rest his hand on Jack's arm the same way he had before. They carefully made their way out from under the dense forest cover that had hidden Mac well, and kept walking. The exfil location was probably only a mile away, but they had no way of knowing when they were getting help. Exfil was long gone, they knew that much already. They just had to hope that there would be enough signal at the location to send an SOS to Riley back at Phoenix, assuming she didn't already know something was wrong. They had missed exfil multiple times, so that wouldn't be quite enough to let them know that something was seriously wrong, but after long enough, they would figure it out for themselves. Jack just hoped they could do that in time.

* * *

Dr. Zeigler paced back and forth. This was a disaster. If he didn't get his hands on that boy soon enough to watch the rest of the progression of the drug, production could be set back months. If this drug was a straight improvement of the last one, then the boy should have lost his sight by then, and should lose his hearing within a couple of hours, but there was no telling exactly how the drug would progress. Would the drug kill the boy? He was young and strong - he wasn't sure how old the boy was, but he looked like he was still a kid, not quite yet a man - and was the perfect test subject. Hopefully, he would survive, and be able to be used for the next batch. Dr. Zeigler hadn't had a specimen as perfect as that blond boy yet. All of the other subjects had been too weak to handle the drug, and had died of shock in the last stage. That wasn't supposed to happen. The drug wasn't supposed to kill them. It was supposed to be a method of incapacitating enemies, who could then be interrogated once the drug wore off in a few days.

However, due to the excruciating pain the drug caused, his employers had requested a second version of the drug that was more slow acting that could be used as an enhanced interrogation method. Zeigler had seen the video in the lab, he saw the boy screaming in pain when he lost the first sense. It wasn't that the sense of smell was so crucial to the drug, but it added fear, which was essential to the version of the drug that would be used in interrogation. Once the first sense goes, the subject will know what's going on, and be terrified. That was the goal.

But then that man had burst in and taken the boy away. That wasn't part of the plan. He needed to be able to see how the drug progressed, or else he'd have to find a new test subject, and after the blond boy, no one else would be good enough. The boy was simply perfect, in the absolute peak of health with a stunning physique. No one else could come close to being as good of a test subject.

"Doctor."

Zeigler was stirred from his thoughts by one of the lieutenants coming up to him. "Well? Have you captured the boy yet?"

"Not exactly," the man quietly replied. "We haven't seen him yet, but three men were taken out by shots to the head. It had to be the man who took him from us."

"Then get back out there, and find him," Zeigler seethed. "That boy should be the last lab rat we ever need, at least for this serum. I intend to use him until he dies, but I can't do that if he gets away!" he shouted. "Now, send all available men to get out into the woods, and find him. I don't care what you do to the man, but I need that boy back here within the next hour, or you'll be the one I test the drug on next. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," the lieutenant replied, turning on his heel and leaving.

Zeigler sighed. If he couldn't get that drug finished on time, he was history. His employers would kill him. None of this should have been a problem. He usually finished drugs to perfection with plenty of time to spare, but this one was proving to be quite difficult, and he'd never had a test subject escape before.

Oh well. The boy would be caught again, and for his escape, Zeigler would show him the meaning of pain.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: We are nearing the end of this fic. There will likely only be one chapter after this. I know this is a lot shorter than most of my multichapter fics, so I hope that isn't underwhelming, especially since I said that this was a fic I was looking forward to writing for months, but I've written basically all that I set out to write with this fic, so I hope you guys are as happy with it as I am :) I hope you enjoy, and please leave a review!**

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Mac would've been lying if he said he wasn't scared. He was downright terrified. He was losing his senses one by one, and he was being hunted by the man who took them from him. That would terrify anyone, highly trained agent or not. At least he had Jack. That was his one solace. Jack was there and he was going to protect him with everything he had. Killing those men who had almost found them was part of that, as much as Mac hated death and violence - sometimes he thought maybe he'd picked the wrong field due to that aversion, but he understood that people did what had to be done, and he was no stranger to killing either. He had no doubt that Jack was going to get them home safe. That's what Jack always did.

Mac stifled a gasp as he stumbled, hanging on tightly to Jack's arm.

"You okay?" Jack quickly asked, stopping in his tracks. "I'm sorry, kid, I got lost in thought and forgot to warn you about all the tree roots around here."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Mac replied quietly, not loosening up on his grip. He started walking slowly, lifting up his feet more than he usually would in order to make sure he stepped over the roots. If he could just see none of this would be difficult at all. But dwelling on it would only freak him out again, so he needed to think about something else. "Are we there yet?" he asked Jack with a smile.

"Wow, you're hilarious," Jack deadpanned. "We should be getting to the exfil spot soon. We don't have signal quite yet, but hopefully we will once we're there."

The two carried on in silence for a while, but Mac still had to do something to distract himself from what was going on. Without the ability to see anything around him, Mac paid extra attention to what he heard. The birds were quite beautiful, their evening songs filling up the air. There was a light breeze, making the leaves ruffle against themselves. Mac thought he may have even heard an owl.

"Hey, Jack?"

"Yeah, bud?"

Even though Mac was blind, he still could practically see Jack glancing over at him, just like he always did. "What time do you think it is?" he asked.

"Well.." Jack started. "My phone isn't on the right timezone, but based on the position of the sun, and the falling temperature, I'd assume it's about six. Why do you ask?"

"We're gonna have to find some shelter out here for the night, you know. It gets really cold around here at night, and we are not prepared for that." Mac left out that he had been feeling the cold ever since he lost his sight, but he figured that was only psychosomatic. "We can't build a fire. That would draw them right to us." He wished they could. He would love a warm fire, but that just wasn't smart.

"We'll be okay," Jack gently replied, resting his hand on top of Mac's - the blond didn't flinch, since Jack's tone of voice had told him that maybe the man would do something like that. "I'm gonna keep you warm, I'm gonna get you home, and I'm gonna get your senses back or die trying."

Mac didn't reply, but leaned in closer to Jack as they walked. The man was always radiated heat, which was convenient, since Mac always felt cold.

"Alright, bud," Jack said, slowly coming to a stop. "This is where the helicopter would be if we had gotten here a long time ago," he said with a chuckle. Based on that, Mac assumed they were in a clearing. He couldn't hear the breeze through trees in front of him, which also provided evidence of a clearing. The sun must have set at that point too, since Mac couldn't feel it on his skin at all. That was bad. That meant it was only going to get colder, and Mac was already fighting to not shiver. He didn't want Jack to worry, especially since the man felt just as warm as usual. "We can try to chill out here until we get backup, but I'm gonna try to contact Matty first. I'm not leaving you, okay?" Once Mac nodded, Jack helped him to sit down with his back against a large tree.

Mac missed the contact with Jack as soon as the man stepped away. Jack could've been two feet in front of him or a hundred. It wouldn't have made a difference. Mac couldn't tell either way. Jack could have been on the other side of the clearing and Mac wouldn't even know.

"We have signal!" Jack shouted out with a triumphant laugh. Mac couldn't help but smile at his partner. "Hey, Matty, we have a bit of a problem here-". Matty must have cut him off. "I'm sorry, and I'll explain everything later, but we need exfil ASAP, and a hospital for Mac. We don't know exactly what kind of drugs they put him on and it's pretty bad. We're at the original exfil spot." Jack paused again. Hopefully, Matty was saying that she could get a team to them soon. "Alright, okay, if that's the best you can do, then it'll have to be good enough." Jack let out a heavy sigh. That didn't sound good at all.

"What did she say?" Mac asked hesitantly once it was clear that Jack had hung up.

"She can have a new exfil here in about two hours," Jack said, clearly annoyed. "That's an hour and forty-five minutes too long for me."

"Jack-"

"We have no idea what that maniac dosed you with, and we have no idea how it's going to progress, what will have happened to you in two hours, if you'll even still be freaking alive then. That's not something I want to take a chance on. I want you in the hospital as soon as possible, because I am not letting you become one of those other subjects in that room, lying dead. I won't let it happen."

"Jack," Mac repeated, finally gaining the man's attention. "I understand, trust me, I do." Mac took a shaky breath. "Don't think that I'm not terrified, because I am, but there's nothing we can do right now but wait, okay? So please, sit down and wait." Mac left out that he wanted Jack to sit down right next to him immediately. He had already told Jack he was scared, and that was enough emotion for a while. Hopefully, Jack would just naturally sit down close enough for Mac to lean against him. Mac hated how unable he was to sense where his partner was without physical contact with the man.

"Okay," Jack replied in a gentle voice. "Alright, I'll sit down. You're right, it's not Matty's fault, and there's nothing we can do." He heard Jack sigh and some leaves rustle, then felt the reassuring presence of his partner sitting right next to him. Mac leaned into the familiar touch almost unconsciously, but he didn't move away. Besides, Jack was warm, and Mac was freezing. "Damn, kid," Jack said, wrapping his arm around Mac's shoulders and pulling him closer. "You need some more meat on your bones. It's not even that cold out." He must have been able to feel Mac shivering. When had he even started? He didn't remember doing that.

"Maybe it has something to do with the drug," he muttered, burrowing even further into Jack's side. He didn't have the energy to say much else. And to top it all off, he could feel the beginnings of pain in his ears. The thought of losing his hearing drove him to reach around with his hand and grip Jack's arm.

"Bud, are you okay?" Jack asked, concern clear in his voice. If Mac could see, he was sure he would find Jack looking down at him with his eyes wide, searching for something that might be hurting him.

"My ears," he muttered into Jack's side. "They're starting to hurt." Mac tried to keep his breathing even and forced the tears away. He was going to control it and not lose it as long as he could. But he was just so scared. Once he lost his hearing, how was he going to be able to tell Jack from the people searching for them? How was he going to be able to tell anything?

"Oh, kid, I'm so sorry," he said, emotion heavy in his voice. "It's gonna be okay, I promise, I'm gonna fix this, somehow, I don't know how yet, but I'm gonna fix this for you, you're gonna be okay," he rambled, his voice getting faster until he stopped.

"It's not your fault," Mac replied, his head resting against Jack's shoulder. "Besides, there's nothing you can do."

"I can at least keep you warm. Hold on, bud," Jack said, his voice wavering slightly. Then the man was moving, and for a split second, Mac panicked, thinking that Jack was leaving him, but he quickly calmed. Jack would never leave him, especially not when he was this vulnerable. Jack was moving, but he was only moving between Mac and the tree, so that Mac was directly in front of him, sitting between his legs. Jack then pulled Mac close to him, and wrapped his arms around Mac's thin chest. Despite himself, Mac relaxed, leaning back into his partner, and let himself be warmed by the man. They were alone in the woods. No one else would ever know, and this was Jack, so it was okay. It was okay to be a little bit more vulnerable with Jack. The man had practically raised him since he was nineteen - not that he needed to be raised, since he was a grown man and could take care of himself - so it was okay if he saw the vulnerable side of himself that he never let anyone else see. It really was okay. At least, Mac had to try to convince himself of that, or else he would just get even more stressed, and he was already stressed out enough.

Mac had no way of keeping track of time, and he knew it would be annoying if he just kept asking Jack again and again, so he didn't. For once, he wasn't in the mood to mess with Jack. He was in the mood to watch the birds he could hear flying above, and he was in the mood to smell the pines of which he could feel the fallen needles. Instead, he tried to focus on what he could hear. The insects were getting louder, so he forced himself to think of the Latin names of each one. When he was done with that, he gave them all regular names. Based on what he could hear, there were at least five different cicadas around. He named them Dave, Fred, Greg, George, and Bartholomew. He didn't tell Jack any of this, of course. The man would make fun of him relentlessly. He was bored, damn it, and at least naming the insects gave him something to distract himself from the annoying pain in his ears and and the chill running through his body. Jack helped with that too. The man was a giant heater, and Mac was very comfortable laying against him.

But then the pain spiked, and Mac tried to curl up into himself with a groan.

"Mac?" Jack said, his voice full of worry.

"It's getting worse, Jack," he replied, gripping the front of Jack's shirt. He was losing the battle to control his emotions and fear. "I'm gonna go deaf," he said. Mac wasn't able to stop the first tear from falling. The pain was growing rapidly, and it took everything he had to keep his mouth shut. They couldn't draw any unwanted attention to themselves.

"This really has terrible timing," Jack grumbled. He sounded annoyed, but he was still holding onto Mac with one hand and gently running his fingers through his blond hair with the other. "We gotta stay really still, bud, and quiet. I think the creepy scientist bad guys are on the other side of the clearing," he whispered.

Mac didn't reply. He was too busy trying to keep his mouth shut. It just hurt so bad and he felt like he should be screaming but he couldn't. He brought a hand up to his mouth and bit his knuckles so hard they bled, just to try to focus on something else, even though it was a little counterproductive.

"Oh, kid, no," Jack said, gently pulling Mac's bleeding hand away.

"It hurts so bad, Jack," he cried, turning and pressing his head into Jack's chest as if he could hide there and the pain would stop. Jack's arms came back around him and held him even closer. "I'm gonna be blind and deaf, no, no, no, please," he cried out. Mac held on to Jack with everything he had and sobbed into his chest. He had never been more terrified in his life. What was he supposed to do? He was so lost, and helpless, and there was nothing he could do about anything. He could feel Jack holding him tighter and hushing him, but he couldn't stop. Mac knew the deafness was coming, and he was completely powerless to stop it.

The pain spiked again and Mac could hear himself screaming and then- and then he couldn't. The pain was gone and Mac knew he was still sobbing, but he couldn't hear it. He couldn't hear anything. That only made him cry harder. He was blind and deaf and absolutely terrified.

Then he was being forcefully pushed away from Jack. He felt himself calling out Jack's name, but he couldn't hear it. What was happening? Why was Jack pushing him away? Now that he was so utterly pathetic and helpless, did Jack want nothing to do with him? Was he going to leave him alone in the woods for that crazy doctor to find and experiment on again?

Mac could feel himself crying more as he fell to his hands and knees. Where was the tree? If he could find the tree then at least he could have one side protected. Mac turned the direction he thought the tree was, then felt hands on his shoulders. He gasped in surprise and tried to get away, but he was too weak. But the hands only gripped him enough to pull him somewhere- to the tree! He could feel the tree now, and the hands left. Was it Jack? He called out his partner's name, then felt fingers quickly running through his hair. That had to be Jack. He would know that exact feeling of Jack's fingers running through his hair to calm him anywhere. All he could do now was wait. Mac clutched the tree, and pressed himself against it. He just wanted this to be over.

* * *

If it hadn't been for the fact that they were trying to avoid detection, Jack would've screamed in frustration. Mac was clutching him with all he had, crying in pain and fear and trying not to scream himself, and there was nothing Jack could do to fix any of it. As much as he tried to stop it, Jack couldn't help but let a few tears fall when Mac screamed, and that scream turned into a wailing sob. Jack didn't even try to quiet the boy. They'd already been spotted, and he would soon have to stand and defend themselves. But with Mac in front of him, he knew they wouldn't shoot.

As much as it hurt to do so, he had to protect the kid, which meant that he had to move him. Another tear fell as he had to push his kid away and he cried out for him, completely terrified. But he couldn't try to help him right now. No, right now, he had to save their lives.

Jack stood, and pulled out his gun. He focused on his rage, and fired, taking down the first man. He trusted his own aim, but clearly those men did not, since they appeared to be scared of shooting at him while he was so close to Mac. But Jack was okay with that. As long as he kept Mac safe, he was okay with anything.

A sudden pain in his calf took his attention. He had been grazed by a bullet from behind. They were surrounded. He needed to move Mac. Jack turned to the kid and saw him on his knees, his hands reaching out blindly in front of him. He needed to move the kid to the tree, and hopefully he would stay there. Jack quickly holstered his weapon and grabbed Mac by the shoulders as gently as he could. Of course, the kid fought at first, but quickly relaxed, and called out again for Jack.

"Yeah, bud, it's me," he replied, even though he knew the kid couldn't hear him. He gently ran his fingers through his blond hair, then turned back to the men slowly approaching them. Now would be a great time for exfil to show up.

Jack turned and shot again, hitting one of the men in the chest. He stood right in front of Mac. If the kid reached out, he would've been able to grab onto Jack's legs. He wasn't going anywhere. If this was the end, then he would die protecting his kid. He would not be moved.

Another bullet grazed his arm and Jack groaned in pain. These wounds were mostly superficial, but he still didn't like to be shot. Jack didn't like admitting defeat either, but he was heavily outnumbered, and as much as he loved to brag about his skills, he couldn't take on a small army by himself. He needed Mac for that, and the kid wasn't exactly operating at full capacity. Exfil really needed to hurry up.

Jack heard a shout and a struggle, and turned to see a man holding Mac. He had an arm around the kid's chest and the barrel of a gun shoved at his jugular. Mac was fighting tooth and nail, but the poor kid was weak and didn't stand a chance against the man who had a full head of height on him. But Jack could use that to his advantage.

"Surrender!" the man holding his kid called out. "I have the boy. It's over. If you surrender, we won't kill you," he said.

Jack didn't even answer. His gun was already drawn, and he trusted his aim as much as he trusted Mac. He fired, and a bullet between the eyes of the man so roughly clutching his kid. The man fell to the ground, and Mac stumbled. Jack quickly rushed up to him, and pushed him back to the tree, and forced him into a crouch. He was being much rougher with the terrified kid than he ever wanted to be, and he was only scaring Mac more, but he could live with that if it meant keeping the kid alive. But as soon as Mac was crouching against the tree and Jack was no longer touching him, he relaxed. Maybe he figured out it was Jack who had put him there.

Jack shot at a few more of the men, then crouched down next to Mac. He needed to conserve ammo. There was only slight cover, but slight cover was better than no cover.

A whirring sound grew closer and closer, and Jack could've cried in relief. It was the exfil chopper. It stole the attention of everyone Jack could see, so he shot at a few more of them before the exfil team skillfully descended to aid him. Once he backup arrived, the fight was over in a minute. The rest of the men were dead, and Mac was still holding on to the tree, silently crying.

Jack slowly rested a hand on the kid's shoulder, and wasn't surprised when he heavily flinched away. "It's just me, kid," he said, knowing full well it was pointless. He tried again, and was as gentle as possible. Mac didn't flinch quite as much, and lifted up his hand to Jack's. The kid was rigid, but he slowly ran his hand up Jack's arm and to his shoulder, slowly relaxing with every inch he traveled. Jack just let him do whatever he needed. He would do anything for that kid. Mac slowly brought his hand up from Jack's shoulder, and found his face. As soon as the kid touched his scruff, he relaxed.

"Jack?" He dropped his hand from Jack's face, and moved it around to the man's back. Jack knew exactly what he was searching for, and he would be damned if he didn't give it to him. Jack gently reached forward and pulled Mac into a hug. The kid melted into it, letting his full weight rest against Jack. He could feel the boy softly crying against him, and Jack's heart broke. What if he couldn't fix this? What would he do then? What would Mac do?

"Agent Dalton!" one of the exfil men called out. Jack didn't even turn to look. "The chopper's ready."

"Be right there!" Jack called back. As carefully as he could, Jack started to rise, and made sure that Mac rose with him. He pulled one of the kid's arms around his shoulders, and wrapped his own arm around the kid's waist. That would be the easiest way to guide him. "Alright, bud," he whispered. "Let's go home."


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: I am so sorry for the long wait. Exam season was really rough, and now I'm home for Christmas break, and it's just as hectic here. I haven't had much time to write. There should only be one more chapter after this, I think. I hope you enjoy, and please leave a review!**

* * *

The chair hit the wall with a loud crash when Zeigler threw it across the room in frustration. He slammed his fist against the desk and scattered some papers. The boy was gone. His perfect test subject was out of his hands, and it didn't look like he was going to get him back. Zeigler ran his fingers through his sparse hair, pulling slightly as he breathed out loudly through his nose. He could still get the drug finished on time, he just needed to grab someone who worked for him. It wasn't ideal, but it would work, and that was all that mattered.

Zeigler turned on his heel and started for the door. But right before he got to it, it was slammed open from the outside. A whole team of men in SWAT uniforms stormed through, pointing their guns and yelling at him to get on his knees.

So he did. Zeigler got on the ground and let the men - who had yelled that they were in fact FBI - ziptie his hands behind his back. He cursed the boy. This had to be his people. The boy had definitely been an agent of some kind, but Zeigler had hoped that he would be able to finish the drug before clearing out of the facility. Apparently he was wrong. How could he have made that mistake?

Walking out, foreign hands gripping his arms, Zeigler cursed the boy again. If he ever got his hands on him, he would make him pay. Someone would certainly have to face the penalty for ruining the operation and the sale of the new chemical weapon, and just like for everything else, the boy would be perfect.

* * *

Jack had never been more thankful to ride in a chopper in his life. Helicopters typically experienced less turbulence than an airplane, which meant that Mac wouldn't be as freaked out. He'd gotten the kid onto the chopper with only minor stumbling, and was able to buckle him in without freaking him out. Since Mac knew it was Jack with him, and he'd been on a chopper before, hopefully he recognized what was going on. Of course, Jack still made sure to keep a reassuring arm around the kid, his hand gently squeezing Mac's shoulder, just to remind him that even though he couldn't see or hear, he wasn't alone. Jack was still there, and he was never going to leave him.

It seemed to help significantly. Jack was a bit concerned about Mac falling asleep, since they really knew nothing about what he'd been drugged with, but it had been a very long day for both of them, and the kid was rightly exhausted. Since he couldn't distract the kid in any way that he was comfortable with - most things would involve him at least being able to hear what Jack was saying - he just decided to hold him close, and hope for the best. Mac was sitting in his own seat, safely buckled in, but he was heavily leaning against Jack as he nodded off. The kid was clearly trying to keep himself awake, but he was freezing and exhausted and who knew what else. He could've been in pain and Jack wouldn't know. If Mac was trying to hide his pain, he would, especially since he was already so vulnerable. Unless it was as serious a pain as losing his senses had been, Mac would be able to successfully hide it. That was good, at least. It meant that Mac wasn't in that same pain that he'd had to suffer through before. Jack was never going to get that out of his head, his kid clutching him and screaming in pain and Jack being utterly helpless to do anything about it. He knew he would dream of it for years to come, most likely.

Deciding that it would be better for Mac if he just could rest and actually sleep, Jack slowly put his arm around the kid's shoulders, just slow enough as not to startle him, and pulled him in close. Mac leaned in until he was pressed right up against Jack's side, and reached a hand around to rest it on Jack's chest, right over his heart. Then he relaxed, his eyes slipping closed, the feeling of Jack's steady heartbeat right under his hand. That was really the only sense he had left, and Jack hoped to God he didn't lose that too.

He needed to call Matty. She needed an update. Jack was pretty sure that Riley and Bozer and Leanna would be freaking out by now too, without any information. Luckily, he had signal.

"What's the situation, Dalton?" Matty asked the moment she picked up. "And don't give me the long drawn out story, I just need to know what happened."

"Well," Jack started with a sigh. "The bottom line is that one of the crazy scientist guys who was working on all these chemical weapons got his hands on Mac, and decided that the kid would be a good test subject for this drug he was working on. I got Mac out, but not before the drug took away his sense of smell. Then, the poor kid slowly lost his sight and hearing. He's asleep now, and seem's to be doin' okay, but we need to fix this, and fast." Jack shook his head, wondering once again what they would do if Mac never saw or heard again. Helen Keller had done it, and there had to be countless others in the world who lived being both deaf and blind. Jack was completely sure that Mac could do anything he set his mind to, but he didn't know if the kid would really want to try. Mac was fiercely independent and didn't like accepting help from others if he had any choice at all. Most of what made Mac who he was had to do with the way he saw the world and how he could transform those things he saw. Without the ability to do that, would Mac even want to keep on living? Jack quickly wiped at his eyes, clearing the tears away before they could really fall. This wasn't something he ever wanted to think about. The idea of Mac giving up all hope on living a life he was happy with brought tears to his eyes, and nearly sent him into a panic. He couldn't even imagine losing Mac. The kid was everything to him, and he would be there for him through this, no matter what.

He could hear Matty sigh on the other end of the line. "Understood. I'll tell the others, and I'll get the FBI to send a takedown team there. We have enough on them to put them all away for a very long time. Just try to keep him calm, and help him to know that he's safe, okay?" she said, her voice uncharacteristically soft.

"Of course, Matty," Jack replied. When Matty didn't respond, Jack hung up. In a situation like this, there was no point of small talk. He just wanted his kid to be okay.

The rest of the copter ride was pretty smooth. He just held Mac close, praying the whole way that this was reversible. Jack didn't know what they would do if it wasn't. But finally, they touched down at the Phoenix operated hospital in LA. Mac was going to need the best of care that medicine could provide, but due to the nature of what had happened, Matty had insisted that the hospital be Phoenix run.

As gently as he could, Jack shook Mac's shoulder to wake him up. The kid startled at first, but then quickly relaxed, with Jack's hand gently covering his own. Jack took Mac's hand in his, and brought it to the buckle of the safety belt. He hoped that by making Mac do the motions, he would realize what was going on, and feel more comfortable. It seemed to work, since as soon as the buckle was undone, Mac slowly stood up, Jack's hand resting on his shoulder.

"Hold on, bud," Jack said, even though he knew Mac couldn't hear him. He stopped the kid from taking a step forward. He needed to figure out how he was going to get the kid safely out of the helicopter and into the hospital. They already had a gurney ready, so he really just needed to get Mac out to it, as gently as possible. There seemed to be only one reasonable way to do that in a short amount of time.

Sighing, Jack carefully took Mac's arms and wrapped them around his neck and shoulder. The kid seemed confused, but cooperated with Jack's movements. Jack started to bend down a bit to get his arm under Mac's knees, but as soon as he did, Mac let go.

"No, you gotta stay there," he said, standing back upright and placing Mac's arms back where they were. He felt bad for the kid, who just stared ahead, his big blue eyes full of confusion. "It's gonna be okay," he whispered, gently running a hand through Mac's hair, hoping that would have the same effect that his words would. This time, when he bent down a bit, Mac kept his arms where they were. Jack couldn't stifle his chuckle when Mac gasped at the sudden feeling of being lifted into the air, but at least the kid kept his grip on Jack this time.

Jack rolled his eyes. All of this just to make sure the kid couldn't trip while getting out of the helicopter. Damn, he loved that kid.

As carefully as he could, Jack set Mac down on the gurney, and helped him to lie down. Mac's hands quickly roamed around the gurney, feeling the fabric of the sheet and pillow. That seemed to help, and he seemed to know what was going on. The feeling of hospital pillows was one that Mac and Jack both knew very well by that point, so it was no surprise that Mac could tell what was going on based solely on that. Mac sighed. He certainly didn't look happy about it, but he was smart enough to know that after being pumped full of some mystery drug, it was something that he very much needed.

Jack held his hand as the gurney started to roll towards the elevator. He kept a hand on his shoulder, gently massaging, as the doctors took blood samples and started him on an IV to get him hydrated. He gently combed his fingers through the kid's hair to calm him down when he flinched at unexpected contact, and did everything he could to remind him that everything was going to be okay. The doctors assured Jack that Mac would be under constant observation, and he appeared to be in perfect health, aside from his low body temperature and lack of most senses. That wasn't good enough.

Jack didn't leave Mac's side until the kid fell asleep in his hospital bed. The nurses had been hounding him about getting his bullet grazes checked out for hours by that point, but Jack wouldn't be moved. He was never going to leave that kid, no matter what. But, when he was safely resting, Jack forced himself to move from the chair next to him, to the neighboring bed. It was only a difference of two feet, but Jack didn't like it. He kept his eyes focused on Mac the whole time.

"These should heal up just fine," the nurse said, finishing up the wrapping on Jack's arm. "Neither one needs stitches, so as long as you keep them clean, you should be good as new pretty quickly." She smiled at Jack, and blushed as he put his shirt back on. If Jack had been looking anywhere but at his partner, he would've noticed that the pretty nurse had been checking him out the whole time, and had taken her sweet time with his arm, if only to keep him shirtless longer. But as it was, Jack only cared that his kid was okay, and thus did not notice her desire.

"I knew they would be," he mumbled in reply. If he'd had it his way, he wouldn't have had the grazes treated at all. The bullets had barely touched him. He'd gotten worse scrapes from falling off his bike as a kid. This was nothing.

Once the nurse was gone, Jack immediately moved back to the uncomfortable chair, and took up Mac's hand in his. The kid was asleep, and Jack knew that he should get some shut-eye too, but he couldn't bring himself to. He couldn't bring himself to do anything but pray that Mac would be okay when he woke up.

* * *

 _Mac was alone. It was dark, so dark he couldn't see anything, not even his hand in front of his face. And it was quiet. It was a bone-chilling quiet, not a single sound to be heard at all, not even the blood rushing through his eardrums. Mac tried to call out for Jack, but he couldn't hear his own voice. He knew he was panicking, he could feel himself beginning to hyperventilate. Where was Jack? Jack always helped him through his panic attacks, so where was he now? He tried to call out for Jack again, but he didn't hear anything._

 _Then there were arms grabbing him, holding him down. Mac tried to scream, but he couldn't. He was so scared, he'd never been more scared in his life. What was going on? Why couldn't he see or hear anything?_

 _But then he could, and wished he couldn't. The darkness abruptly changed to a bright light, which faded to the mad scientist who'd drugged him. He could see the man in front of him, and he could hear him cackling, like something out of a B rate horror flick. Where was Jack? Jack always saved him. He called out for Jack again, and he could finally hear it._

 _"He's gone," the scientist said, a sadistic smile on his face. "You called for him, so he came for you, and we killed him." He stepped aside, revealing Jack, lying dead on the floor. "So, really, you killed him."_

* * *

Mac could feel hands on his shoulders holding him down. His eyes flew open, and the darkness was back. He could feel himself screaming, but once more, he couldn't hear it. And it hurt. It hurt so, damn, much. The hands kept holding him down but his nose just hurt so much and he wanted it to stop, for the pain to finally end. Why did he have to go through so much pain? Mac tried to curl in on himself, but the hands stopped him from moving. He knew he was crying, and at this point, he didn't care. He just wanted it to be over.

And finally, it was. Just like before, the pain left as quickly as it came. Mac stopped screaming, and stilled, trying to calm himself down. It was okay, the pain was gone, it was fine. He took a deep breath, and breathed in the terribly familiar scent of hospital antiseptic.

Mac froze. He could smell the antiseptic. He could freaking smell it. He couldn't stop a huge smile from breaking out on his face. He could finally smell again. Mac took another deep breath, and tried to take in any smell that he possibly could. Jack was there, he had to be. Mac could smell him, could smell that recognizable mix of gunpowder and fading Old Spice and home. That always meant Jack.

"Jack?" he felt himself call out, hoping against hope that he wasn't stuck in another nightmare - although, this whole experience had been a nightmare. He lifted up a hand to search out for Jack, but still flinched when it collided with an arm that felt big and strong. That had to be him. "Jack?" he felt himself repeat. Oh so gently, that arm snaked its way around Mac and pulled him close. It was him. It was Jack. Mac clung to the man with all he had, and breathed in his scent. It was the most beautiful smell Mac could imagine. He buried his head in the man's chest and tried to keep his tears at bay. At least this time they were happy tears. He could smell again. "I can smell," he tried to say. He still couldn't hear it, but he hoped that Jack could. He leaned further into the man, and relaxed, just letting himself be held. Maybe it really was going to be okay.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: I know I said this would be the last chapter, but I was wrong. There should be one more after this. I hope you enjoy, and please leave a review!**

* * *

Jack couldn't stop a few tears of joy from falling as he held his kid in his arms. The boy could smell again. That meant he was slowly getting his senses back, and in a while, he should be okay. The drug wasn't going to kill him, and he was going to recover. The only downside was that it was going to take some pain in order to get there. While Mac's sense of smell was coming back, he had been in just as much pain as when he'd lost it. Sadly, that likely meant that getting his sight and hearing back would be a painful experience as well.

"Can we give him something?" Jack asked to the nurse who was checking the kid's vital signs. "Just for the pain. It's gonna hurt even more with the next one." Mac really didn't like taking anything, and Jack hated to slip him something without his knowledge, but he hated seeing him screaming in agony even more. If they could give him something that would dull the pain, even just a little bit, it would be worth it.

"I'm sorry, Agent Dalton, but the labs haven't finished analyzing MacGyver's blood samples yet, so we don't want to risk giving him anything," the nurse said with an apologetic shake of her head. "It seems as though the drug will run its course and flush itself out naturally. We don't want to give him anything that could jeopardize that process.

Jack sighed, but he understood. He would just stay there, holding Mac, as long as he needed. His partner hadn't yet moved. It had been several minutes, but Mac was still holding on to the front of Jack's shirt and had his head resting against Jack's chest. Jack was completely content to just hold him, one hand gently rubbing circles on his back, and the others softly running through the kid's hair. From his position, Jack couldn't tell for sure, but based on his breathing, it felt like Mac had fallen asleep there in Jack's arms. That was fine with him. If he could help Mac to feel safe enough to sleep, and sleep without nightmares, that was just fine with him.

"How is he?" Riley asked, walking through the door with two coffees in hand. She set the two coffees down on the table and lightly reached around the sleeping blond to hug both Mac and Jack at the same time. It was a bit uncomfortable, but Jack would suffer through anything for his kids. She then went to stand at the foot of the hospital bed, picking up one coffee and leaving the other for Jack. Based on the sweet smile that graced her face upon seeing Mac, the kid had to be truly asleep in Jack's arms.

"He can smell again," Jack whispered with a smile. "His body temp is still low, but little by little it's climbing. The doctors all say the drug should just run its course and he'll be fine. It's gonna be painful until then, but he's gonna be okay."

"Yeah," she replied softly, gently sitting down on the end of the bed. "He looks like he's gonna be just fine. I don't know what I'd do if he wasn't." She shook her head with a sigh. "The whole time you guys were gone I just knew something was wrong, like more wrong than normal. Then when Matty finally told me what happened, all I could think was that Mac was never gonna be okay again." Riley paused to take a deep breath and a sip of her coffee. "I just wanted him to be okay. He's like my little brother, you know? I hate it when he's hurt," she finished in a mutter. "I'm sorry, I know it's all fine!" she quickly continued with a smile. "It's just been a rough few days, you know?" She sighed and shook her head.

"It's okay, Ri, I've been doing more than my fair share of freaking out too. It's okay to get nervous about it," Jack responded with a smile. "But our boy is gonna be just fine in a day or two, and that's all that matters now. The guy who did this to him is going behind bars for a long time, and everything is okay now." Jack kept up his gentle ministrations in Mac's hair. The kid may have been asleep, but that motion was calming to Jack too.

He felt terrible that Riley had been so worried. Of course she'd been. Jack knew she hadn't been exaggerating when she'd said that she thought of Mac as her little brother, so of course upon hearing that he was so badly hurt she would be terrified for him. But he was going to be okay, and that really was all that mattered.

"Bozer said that he's gonna come over to see you guys as soon as he can get away from the lab," she continued. "He buried himself in his work in order to keep himself from going crazy with worry, and now he can't get away." Riley chuckled. "Leanna is keeping him company though. Matty will be over once she finishes the official stuff."

Jack nodded, then turned his attention back to the sleeping boy in his arms. It still seemed unreal that after everything, Mac really was going to be okay. Jack had been so terrified that he was going to lose the kid, and it was hard to accept that maybe he could relax, because everything was going to be fine.

He stiffened when he felt Mac moving. He'd woken up. But Mac didn't seem like he was going to move any time soon. He didn't seem to be in any pain at all, rather, he seemed content to just sit where he was, with Jack's arms around him. Mac snuggled deeper into the man and breathed in his smell. Despite everything, Mac actually looked happy. Jack couldn't help but smile.

"How do I let him know I'm here without freaking him out?" Riley asked. She'd stood up and was now standing right next to Jack at the side of the bed. Jack had climbed into the bed to make it easier to hold his partner, but Riley hadn't yet taken the seat that had been sitting vacant for the last hour.

"I can help with that," he replied. "Stick out your hand." Riley did as he instructed, and Jack removed his hand from Mac's hair and took a gentle hold of the kid's hand, which was still holding onto the front of Jack's shirt. It took some gentle prodding to make Mac let go without making the kid think Jack was leaving him, but he managed it, and brought Mac's hand over to Riley's outstretched one. Mac sat up more against Jack when he made contact with Riley's smooth skin. He dragged his hand up from hers to her shoulder, where her hair was hanging, curly and loose.

"Riley?" he hesitantly asked, then sighed. The kid was probably upset that he still couldn't hear himself speak.

"Yes, Mac, it's me," she responded, despite knowing that Mac couldn't hear her. She gently brought her hand to the kid's blond hair and ran her fingers through it before leaning down to hug him as much as she could. Mac kept one hand on Jack, but brought the other around Riley and pulled her close, almost making her fall on top of him.

"I think he's glad you're here," Jack said with a chuckle when Riley made a small sound of protest when Mac pulled her down so suddenly. "And so am I," he continued in a low voice. Despite it all, he was happy. The doctors had assured him that Mac really was going to be okay, and they would be even more sure once they had the drug completely analyzed. Both of his kids were right here, safe and sound in his arms. Things were good.

* * *

Riley would never tell Jack how much she had been freaking out while he and Mac were gone. She had just known that something was more wrong than normal, and she was powerless to do anything to help. She hated it. The utter relief she felt upon hearing from Matty that they were en route to a Phoenix hospital had almost been enough to knock her off her feet. They were okay. And now she could see with her own eyes that they were. Mac was still healing, but he was okay, and the little bullet grazes were barely worse than a papercut for Jack, so he was fine too. Riley breathed another sigh of relief from where she sat in the uncomfortable hospital chair. She had chosen to take it once Mac had released her from his hug. He'd snuggled back into Jack, and was now resting there. Earlier, he'd looked content, but now, something looked just a little bit off. Of course, that could be because he couldn't see anything, so his sightless eyes were just staring straight forward.

"How long will it be until he can see again?" She asked. She knew Jack didn't really know, but maybe he could have some insight.

"It'll be soon, I can tell." Riley looked over at Jack, and noticed that his face was set in rigid determination. "He went stiff a few minutes ago, and his breathing is different. He's in pain right now, which really is a good thing, but it won't be pretty to watch." Mac squeezed his eyes shut tight and shook his head, as if he were confirming what Jack had said. The man wrapped his arms a little tighter around his partner, and the blond clutched him tighter in turn. Riley could see tears beginning to fall from his closed lids, and her heart broke. She needed to do something.

Setting her coffee down on the table, Riley stood and gently laid a hand on Mac's shaking shoulder. He was shaking so badly that she couldn't tell whether or not he flinched at her sudden touch. Still, she rubbed his arm, and hoped it did something, anything, just to remind him that it was going to be okay.

"You're gonna be okay," she said, looking from Mac to Jack, who looked like he was almost in as much pain for his partner as Mac was himself.

Mac began to moan in pain and curled further into himself and Jack. He clenched his teeth as he began to cry out in pain, and Riley couldn't stop tears of her own from falling. Her little brother was in agony and there was nothing she could do to make it better.

A nurse stopped by to make sure that everything was "okay", but there was nothing she could do either, since they still didn't want to give him anything, so she left to give them all some more privacy. Mac just continued to cry out, and Jack even had to take his hands so he couldn't scratch at his eyes. That's what broke Riley's heart the most, seeing the tears in Jack's eyes as the man had to restrain his partner for the boy's own protection. She tried to hold Mac, to keep him both still and maybe a little bit more calm, but she didn't know if it helped at all.

Then, Mac's shaking stopped, and he went limp. Riley moved away to arms-length. Could he see now? Jack brought his hand back up to Mac's hair and resumed his ministrations. Mac still had his eyes squeezed shut, but he tilted his head to look up at Jack, and so slowly opened his eyes. A huge smile broke out on his face as he stared up at Jack. That's all Riley needed to know that he could see. Mac mouthed Jack's name as happy tears filled his eyes. He just kept staring up at the man, the smile on his face only growing larger when Jack smiled too. He probably thought he might never actually see Jack again.

Finally, Jack motioned over to Riley, so Mac quickly turned his head and saw her too. He mouthed her name and continued to smile, resting his head on Jack's chest.

"Beautiful," Mac said, but Riley didn't know if he was talking about her, or the room, or being able to see in general, or even Jack. She couldn't exactly ask him, but he was happy for now, and he could see again, and that was all that mattered.

Jack wrapped his arms around Mac once again, and the blond snuggled back into him.

"He's tired," she said. Mac seemed to be struggling to keep his eyes open, but he kept looking between Jack and Riley, like they were all he wanted to see. But he couldn't stay awake forever.

"Pain takes a lot out of ya," Jack replied, rubbing circles on Mac's back to relax him. "He needs to sleep, rest more."

Riley waved her hand to get Mac's attention. He kept his eyes wide on her, almost comically wide, like he didn't want to miss anything. It reminded her of a puppy who just wanted to stay awake forever. Riley pointed at Mac, then motioned for him to sleep by turning her head to the side and putting her hands under like a pillow. If the smile that broke out on his face was anything to go by, then he understood exactly what she was trying to tell him. Mac looked up at Jack, who nodded vigorously. With another smile, Mac closed his eyes and snuggled deeper into Jack.

"I hope he's comfortable," Riley said with a laugh. She took the last sip of her coffee and leaned back as far as the stiff chair would allow.

"I'll have you know that a 12-year-old Riley thought that I was the most comfortable bed in town whenever she wanted to be carried in from the car," Jack replied with a smile. Riley groaned and shook her head. He just couldn't seem to ever let her forget about that. "But he's probably the best snuggle buddy I've ever had, just don't let him know that. In fact, as soon as he's healthy again, he's probably not gonna even wanna bro hug for like a month just to make up for all the cuddling we've done these past few days."

Riley couldn't help but laugh at that, but knowing Mac, Jack was probably right. He was generally only a touchy person in private and during traumatic times. While this may have technically still counted, she knew that once the whole team was there, Mac wouldn't want them to see him snuggled up against Jack. In most situations, she would've loved to get photographic evidence of it to use as blackmail, but this time, that didn't seem right. Mac had been through hell, and he deserved to be held without fear of being blackmailed for it.

"I'll just let you guys be for now," she said with a smile. Riley stood up and grabbed her empty coffee cup.

"You don't have to go," Jack protested. "You won't wake him up, he can't hear you." Jack made eye contact with her and smiled, letting her know that the almost-pun was completely intentional.

"No, I need a coffee refill anyway, and I should give Matty and the others an update. Besides, it looks like you could use a nap too." Riley stood over the two of them, and gently ran her fingers through Mac's hair. "Take care of him," she said with a smile.

"I always do," Jack responded, holding the boy close.

Riley turned the lights down lower as she left the room, and she even stopped by the nurses' station to make sure that Mac and Jack would be undisturbed for a while. They needed all the rest they could get, and if she could help them get that, she would. Throughout their predicament, she had been completely powerless, but not anymore. Now, she would do anything she possibly could to help them, even in the smallest of ways.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Here it is, the final chapter, for real this time. Although this story has ended up being shorter than I thought it would be, I've really enjoyed writing it, and I've told the story that I set out to tell. I hope you guys have enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Fair warning, this chapter is suuuuuuper cheesy, but I like it, and I hope you do too. I have two one shots planned, one a fluffy one exploring what happened in Disney World to get Jack kicked off the Jungle Cruise ride, and a requested h/c one involving hypothermia. I also have another multichapter fic that I'm currently planning, which will be a werewolf AU that my sister requested. I hope you enjoy, and please leave a review!**

* * *

For the first time since Mac had been separated from Jack by that collapsing ceiling back in the compound, he wasn't scared. Yes, he knew he was still in for some severe pain when his hearing finally came back, but he also knew that it was going to be okay. The doctors and nurses only looked at him with smiles, and both Riley and Jack seemed okay, which meant that they knew he was going to be okay, and the drug wasn't going to kill him. He'd already gotten back both his sense of smell and sight, so it was only a matter of time until his hearing was back too. It was all going to be fine, and Jack was right there, holding him. Everything was going to be okay, and Mac knew that like he knew laws of thermodynamics. So for now, even though the pain of regaining his hearing was imminent, Mac wasn't scared at all. He was completely content.

Mac let out a small sigh as he relaxed further into Jack. The man seemed to still be asleep, and Mac didn't want to wake him up. He had done so much for Mac throughout this whole ordeal, and he deserved to be able to sleep well for a while. Part of Mac was surprised that his own sleep hadn't been disturbed by nightmares, but Jack's presence so close combined with his complete exhaustion from the crazy events and extreme pain were probably to thank for that. He only hoped that Jack's sleep would be as undisturbed as his own. Jack was different from Mac when it came to nightmares. Typically, Mac would wake up screaming or in a panic, but Jack didn't. For him, it was more normal to wake up softly crying, or only with a small gasp. Of course, there were always exceptions, usually when the memories of Afghanistan or a disastrous mission like Cairo became too strong, but Jack had gotten good at hiding them. Or at least, he was good at hiding them while Mac was around. Mac could only hope that he just didn't really get them at all, but in their line of work, that was unlikely.

Still, he would take this momentary comfort for the blessing it was. If he could hear, Mac was sure his ears would be greeted with the sound of Jack's soft snores. As it was, he knew his partner was still asleep because of his steady breathing. Mac was right up against Jack, with his hand on his partner's chest and Jack's arm holding Mac close. His chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm, and Mac could feel his heartbeat, strong and steady as well.

Part of Mac scoffed at himself for being so touchy and holding on to Jack the way he was, especially where anyone could see him, but he just couldn't bring himself to truly care this time. So what if Riley saw him snuggled up against Jack, it wasn't like she was going to judge him for it. She was the closest thing he had to a big sister, and it was okay to show a little vulnerability around her, it really was okay. Yeah, he had to take some extra time to convince himself that people didn't care and they wouldn't judge him and he deserved to be a little clingy after what happened, but it was progress. Growing up, his mother had showered him with constant affection and love, but James never had. Even after his mom died, James had never been there to hold Mac as he cried and grieved for her. Until he met Bozer, he hadn't had anyone to tell him that it was okay to want someone to just give him a hug. Bozer had truly been a godsend. Not only did he try to protect Mac from the multitude of bullies in Mission City, but he was always there for him, no matter what. He was the big brother Mac never had, and he made sure that Mac knew it was okay to want to be loved. Then Jack came along, and he was even more touchy than Bozer. That ended up being a good thing, because now, Mac was cuddled up right against the man who had been everything to him that James never was since he was nineteen. James never would have been okay with that. James never would have let Mac seek out that comfort. Growing up, he always just told him to deal with it and move on. Positive reinforcement was a foreign concept in their household. But despite it all, Mac found himself still craving James' love and approval. He knew that wasn't healthy, especially because he kind of hated the man after everything he'd done, but he couldn't help it. That was yet another reason why Jack was so important, because no matter what, Jack did love him, and he had no reservations about reminding him and showing him that. Growing up, that was all Mac wanted, and he finally had it. Why should he be afraid of showing that?

Mac fought to not move when the door to his hospital room opened slowly. He shouldn't have to move from his comfortable position against Jack, no matter who saw. It didn't matter, and people weren't going to judge him for it, they really weren't. Besides, it was just Bozer and Leanna. He couldn't stop himself from smiling when he saw them. They looked amazing, and Mac could even detect the light scent of Leanna's perfume and Bozer's cologne. The scents were fading, which implied that the two hadn't rested or showered since the start of this disastrous mission. Hopefully they would go rest up after seeing that he was okay.

Jack was awake now anyway. The moment the door opened, he woke up. It was an age old habit that had been trained into Jack since before Mac met him, but it had saved their lives on multiple occasions, so neither one of them really minded it.

Bozer was saying something, but Mac couldn't tell what. His smile fell. As much as he was not looking forward to the pain that would accompany getting his hearing back, he wished it would just happen already. He couldn't read lips, and he didn't speak sign language - but after this, he was definitely going to put in some effort into learning. Bozer seemed to notice that he wasn't so happy anymore, and looked at him with a sad, gentle smile. After saying something else to Jack, Bozer stepped forward and held his hand out to Mac, who hesitantly lifted his own hand up from Jack's chest in return. Bozer then took Mac's hand in his, and Mac quickly realized what he was doing. It was their secret handshake from fifth grade. They'd come up with it shortly after becoming friends, and neither one had ever forgotten it, despite the fact that it had been several years since they last did it. But it seemed to have the effect that Bozer wanted, since now Mac was smiling from ear to ear, and both Bozer and Leanna were laughing. Mac could feel Jack rubbing his back and holding him closer. That's all it took for him to relax again, and remember that everything really was going to be okay.

And then a dull pain blossomed deep in his ears. Despite it all, Mac smiled. It was going to suck, but he was going to get his hearing back. He needed to tell Jack. When he lost his hearing, he was in pain for almost two hours before it was finally gone, but it would be best for Jack to know now what was going on.

Mac lifted up his hand and waved it in front of Jack's face to get his attention. He chuckled at the man's look of surprise, but quickly started tapping out on Jack's chest in Morse code, "ear pain". Jack gave him a sad smile and pulled him even closer. It looked like he was telling Bozer and Leanna, based on their reactions. No one seemed exactly sure how to react. Really, it was a good thing, since it meant that he was going to be able to hear again, but no one, least of all Mac, was looking forward to the intense pain he would have to suffer through in order to get it back.

But until then, distractions would be nice, and Bozer knew that. Mac couldn't help but smile when Bozer showed him that he brought Die Hard, complete with subtitles, even though Mac knew most of the movie by heart since Jack had made him watch it so many times.

After popping the movie in, Bozer went back to the uncomfortable couch with Leanna, and put his arm around her. That was as comfortable as they were going to get. Mac, on the other hand, was very comfortable with Jack holding him close. He had to keep reminding himself that it was okay to stay that close, that he was comfortable and safe and that was all that mattered, that Bozer and Leanna didn't care and they definitely didn't think of him any differently for it.

About half way through the movie, the pain in his ears grew, but not enough for him to be about to get his hearing back. It was just painful enough for him to try to scratch his ear against Jack's chest, even though he knew that would do little to nothing. Jack noticed, of course, and started gently running his fingers through Mac's hair. It may not have helped the pain, but it did remind him that Jack was going to get him through it. He just had to breathe, and focus on the movie until it got too bad to ignore.

Becoming too bad to ignore happened faster than Mac thought it would. Not even half an hour later, Mac gasped as the pain spiked. He pressed his head further into Jack's chest, despite knowing that it would do nothing to make the pain go away. Jack began to rub his back and hold him closer, and both Bozer and Leanna stood up and made their way over to the bed. Mac glanced up at them for half a second before looking away. Bozer looked worried, but Leanna was leaning on him and rubbing his arm, which looked like it was helping. She was a wonderful woman, and Mac was glad that Bozer had her.

Another spike of overwhelming pain stole his thoughts, and he could feel himself crying out. Mac buried his head in Jack's shoulder to try to muffle his cries, and tried to focus on the fact that pain or not, this was a good thing. He was going to get his hearing back and everything was going to be okay. Mac could feel multiple sets of hands on him, and knew that Bozer and Leanna were there, trying to help him to get through it. It may not have helped, but he appreciated the gesture. Mac was sure that he was probably hurting Jack with how tightly he was clutching him, but he couldn't get himself to stop. It just hurt so damn much and Jack was always a steady force of safety and security. He could feel a thumb wiping away a tear that had escaped, and knew it was Jack. His partner would do everything he could to not let anyone see something Mac wouldn't want them to. He knew that if he had moved away from Jack once the others had entered the room, the man would have moved away immediately. But because Mac had shown that he was okay with it, Jack had stayed. That was one of the many reasons why he could never repay Jack for all he'd done for him. He always put Mac first, no matter what, and he always knew just what to do to keep him comfortable.

Mac held on to Jack impossibly tighter as another wave of pain overtook him. He cried out again and squeezed his eyes shut against the pain, not that it did anything to help. He could feel Jack holding onto him and rubbing his back and running his fingers through his hair in an attempt to calm him down. All he wanted was for the pain to stop, and he knew Jack wanted the same thing. But then, just like every other time before, the pain vanished, and Mac's ears began to ring. Slowly, he opened his eyes as muffled voices greeted him. He couldn't make out what they were saying just yet.

"...hear me..." Was that Jack?

"Mac..." Maybe Bozer?

Then the ringing faded away, and Mac looked up at his partner, who was staring down at him with hopeful eyes.

"Can you hear me, bud?" Jack asked, keeping steady eye contact with him.

"Yes!" Mac shouted, reaching his arms around Jack as much as he could to hug the man. "Yes, I can hear you, and I can hear me, and all of you," he said, grinning from ear to ear. This time, the tears he cried were from overwhelming joy.

He sat up from his place beside Jack and opened his arms for a hug from Bozer.

"It's so good to hear your voice, man," Bozer said, holding Mac tight.

"Think about how I feel," he replied with a laugh. "And Leanna," he continued, breaking away from Bozer. "I can't wait to hear you and Jack singing terrible karaoke songs on long stakeouts, and hear Bozer scream during a horror movie, and hear Riley typing, and hear Matty yelling at Jack for something stupid he did. It's so great to hear you all." In all seriousness though, Leanna did have a truly beautiful voice, and it was always lovely to hear her sing. Mac had been afraid that he would never hear it again.

"It's great to see that you're okay," Leanna replied with a smile, reaching forward to give Mac a hug. He returned it gratefully, and breathed in the sweet smell of her perfume. He could see her, and smell her, and hear her. He could see, smell, and hear them all, and it was the most amazing thing Mac could think of. "I'm gonna go let Riley and Matty know you're okay," she said. She stepped out of the room, and of course, Bozer went with her, the puppy in love that he was. Mac couldn't help but smile at his friends.

"She's right, man," Jack said once they left. Mac laid back down and resumed his position with his head resting on Jack's shoulder, and his partner's arm around him holding him close. "It's so good to see you so happy and okay and safe."

"And I have you to thank for that," Mac replied, sighing in contentment. Everything was going to be okay.

Jack scoffed. "As if. I didn't do anything to help you, I could only watch as you suffered and I couldn't even stop you from getting taken in the first place," he said, his own sigh one of self-deprecation.

"That is the furthest thing from the truth, and you know it," Mac said, pressing himself further into Jack's side as if to emphasize the point. "You're the one who got me out of that compound, the one who held me throughout the pain, and helped me get to exfil. I never would've been able to get there without your help. And now, you're still helping. You're here, and you're letting me do this, even when there are other people around and it ruins your tough guy persona." Mac didn't even look at Jack, he just laid there, holding onto him. His partner would get it eventually. They'd done this dance dozens of times, and in the end, Jack seemed to get that it wasn't his fault. At least, he let Mac believe that he knew it wasn't his fault. Whether or not Jack really believed that himself was still up for debate, but Mac did what he could.

"You know that your comfort and safety is way more important to me than anything else in the world, so of course I'll let you stay right there as long as you need." Jack paused for a moment, seeming to ponder his next words. "I'm just surprised that you wanted to. You normally like to move away as soon as anyone else is around," he finished in a lower voice.

Jack was right, Mac usually preferred only to do something like this when there weren't other people around. "I've been trying to work on that," he started, his voice barely more than a whisper. "No one actually cares, I know that, so I shouldn't change my actions because I think they might, because they don't. Bozer has known me since I was eight years old. His opinion of me isn't going to change because he sees me like this. So it really is okay, I know it is." He paused, then continued in an even lower voice. "At least, I hope it is." Mac was taking a big gamble. If he was wrong, then maybe everyone would think of him differently, maybe they would think he was too weak to be a competent operative, or maybe-

"Hey, hey, bud, I know what you're doing," Jack said. He began to run his fingers through Mac's hair again. Mac hadn't even noticed, but his breathing had skyrocketed, and Jack's gentle ministrations were in fact helping him to calm down. "But it is okay. I know your daddy did a number on you when it comes to stuff like this, but it really is okay. No one cares and no one will think differently of you because you need some comfort. You're a human being, and it's okay to need that. Alright, kid?"

Mac nodded against Jack's shoulder, and relaxed a little bit more. Deep down, he knew Jack was right, but it was still difficult to change his actions against age old insecurities. But that was part of what Jack was there for.

A few minutes later, a nurse came by to check on him, and gave him a clean bill of health. He would have to stay in the hospital overnight for observation, but he seemed to be perfectly okay. The drug itself was still being analyzed, but it seemed to have run its course through his body, leaving behind no permanent damage.

Matty had called, and assured Mac that she would be in to visit with Riley in tow before the day's visiting hours were up. But until then, it was just Mac and Jack, and a Die Hard marathon - with the subtitles turned off, Mac didn't need them anymore.

Snuggled up against Jack, breathing in the scent of gunpowder and fading Old Spice, watching Die Hard with his favorite person, and hearing both the annoying sounds of the hospital and Jack's humorous commentary, Mac couldn't think of anything he'd rather be doing. He certainly wouldn't be taking any of his senses for granted ever again. They were a blessing, and he knew that life without them was rough. The mad scientist was heading for prison, the drug had run its course through him, and everything was okay. With Jack by his side, everything would always be okay.


End file.
